Accident and Emergency

Fast and friendly

While A&E departments across the UK struggle to meet their 4-hour waiting time target, we have no such worries in Guernsey. Most patients are seen and assessed by a member of nursing staff within 5 minutes of arrival and usually dealt with - including admission to the main hospital for those who require it - in under 2 hours. Our Rapid Response Team provides a similarly fast emergency service, as necessary, to patients recently discharged into the community.

A&E here is unique in that the department is staffed by local GPs with back up from specialist consultants. The absence of junior doctors means that nurses enjoy far greater autonomy - and most are quite proficient at expanded procedures.

Although especially busy during the holiday season, we see only around 16-17,000 patients a year - from across the full spectrum of case-types. Those needing particular specialist treatments are occasionally transferred off the island; so staff are required to act as escort nurses from time to time.

Rotations into the adjacent fracture clinic improve our skills in fracture recognition, splinting and plastering. Staff are also able to have a rotation period in the Intensive care and high-dependency units. In-house teaching is excellent, thanks to our accredited instructors on ALS, APLS and ATLS. Staff from A&E also participate in a cardiac arrest team serving the hospital as a whole.

As a small, friendly unit - working flexible rotas to help each other out - we welcome like-minded nurses who are keen to learn new skills and pass on their knowledge.